If I could be bothered

I might conduct a survey into the favourite reads of library staff. I wonder how it would compare with the favourite reads of Waterstone's staff, polled recently to decide their top 100 books of the last 25 years. For those interested, the results can be found here

A Room With a View?

We librarians have to work hard in the call of duty you know. Selflessly, we travel the world in search of the very best printed materials with which to stock our libraries, and bring knowledge and pleasure to the masses.

Sometimes our world collides with less pleasant worlds as in my recent book buying trip to a city which shall remain nameless, and a hotel which shall remain nameless, in an area the luminescence of which could be descibed as "rose tinted" at night.

How we librarians marvelled at our neighbour - "Jonny Diamond's Pink Flamingo", its business too, being about the bringing of pleasure to the masses....

Adult literacy

An interesting article on the BBC today about how poor literacy is preventing some parents from being able to read stories with their children confidently.
Libraries are doing some excellent work in this area to raise literacy levels among adults (BBC RaW partnership is an example of this) but also to encourage reading from an early age in children with the aim of breaking the cycle.

Bookstart, Flying Start, Read a Million words and the Libraries Summer Reading challenge are all examples of this intervention, to facilitate and develop a love of reading from an early age.

My favourite things

One of my favourite parts of this job (apart from arguing about the Dewey Decimal system and getting to wear comfy shoes to work) is buying books.

Today, I'm off on a book buying trip for the new Central library with some esteemed colleagues. I like buying most things, particularly adult non fiction and adult contemporary fiction. It's fair to say, in fact, that I like buying books for adults best of all. There is however one exception:

First rule of book buying - I buy the board books
Second rule of book buying - I buy the board books

I hope they've got this one, and this one
No library in the world can have too many copies.

I heart Shelfari

Check out Shelfari, my newly discovered literary social networking site.

1000

I am thrilled to announce that this blog has had it's 1000th visitor today!

So, if you were the person reading at around 1.30pm from a City and County of Swansea IP address then

"give yourself a shiny!"

Reading...

Talk to the Hand by Lynne Truss. Very funny polite little rant of a book.

I'm also a big fan of the "Panda says no" campaign in her previous book but it leaves me in a strange place.

At what point in my life did I start agreeing with Daily Telegraph readers?

Hitla didn't read

Graffiti on a Swansea library wall

You heard it here first..

Well "technically" I suppose it was second, but I did give an inkling didn't I??

What am I talking about? Read all about it here

Good news isn't it? Apart from the "B word". I'm going to start a one woman anti bookworm crusade, but being a good librarian (fnarrr) I am going to document instances of occurence first.

That's 2 - in 2 days.

Please join me on my "bookworm" hunt and stamp out the worm!

I pick my favourite quotations...

.... and store them in my mind as ready armour, offensive or defensive, amid the struggle of this turbulent existence. Robert Burns

Well known in these parts for my ability to use words creatively (a euphemism I suspect for never shutting up), I have been tasked with identifying a few appropriate quotations to decorate the walls of the new Central library.

What a difficult job!

Here's a few that we're considering -

CENSOREDCENSOREDCENSORED
CENSOREDCENSOREDCENSORED
CENSOREDCENSOREDCENSORED

ETA - Shortly after writing this post, I, Paige was gagged by a higher authority. Something to do with not wanting to spoil the surprise. Or was it copyright infringement? Can't remember. Anyway - you'll just have to wait and see...

Another first!

The pilot RFID self issue system has gone live this week in Morriston library - making it the first RFID library in Wales. We're hoping that the new Central Library will offer 100% self service when it opens in March next year, beating even Sutton who currently claim the highest rates.

My particular favourite thing about RFID is the "animal noises" functionality described in this article in the local paper - and, yes - they did manage to get the word "bookworms" in again!

Bookstart

I love Bookstart; the free books, the universal entitlement, the early intervention into reading and literacy, the improvement of familial relationships caused by "reading together", the funky bag, the bear...

THE BEAR!!!

Gets about, doesn't he?

Am I the only one

who isn't consumed with excitement about the forthcoming release of the lastest and (thankfully) last in the HP series?

I always remember casually flicking through this book **warning - rude word in title** and chuckling to myself when I read the description of HP as "a public school conjurer".

Don't get me wrong - it's a great series for children, and I'm sure I'd have loved it when I was 9 or 10 but why oh why oh why do people keep insisting that I try it, when I'm at the ripe old age of "not much past 29".

And the other thing that annoys me (easily annoyed - moi?), is the ridiculous pantomime that poor booksellers have to go to in order to give the book away at a loss.

And another thing , HP and the goblet of fire was in a list of the top 10 books that people start and never finish Seems to me that could be something to do with the fact that every one is about 600 pages longer than the last.

I understand they'll be giving out surgical hoists with the next one.

It's all about me

I read this post at Swashford's blog and it got me to thinking....



Just what is the point of this blog? What do you think? I like to think that it is:

a. a witty insight into the world of public libraries in the 21st century
b. a stroke of marketing genius designed to promote Swansea libraries to the world
c. an opportunity for me to burble on without the risk of being hit (again) by someone in my office